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RIGHTS THE Lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals have demanded rights and recognition. Intersex people have been fi ghting for human rights since 1993, and believe it is now their turn in the spotlight. EarthAngel reports. P SILENT rofessor Milton Diamond of the University of Hawaii’s Pacifi c Centre for Sex and Society estimates the prevalence of intersex — having biological characteristics both male and female — as one in 100. Some academics believe the ratio of intersex people in the population is higher, at one in 75 or one in 60. Regardless of the actual numbers, more people are being born each year with conditions that cause intersex, although not all of them will know it. Even fewer will actually identify themselves as intersex, because intersex itself is shrouded in mystery and silence, deep and profound. Intersex activists want that silence to end, now. SO-CALLED SOCIO-MEDICAL EMERGENCIES In much of the western world, when an intersex child is born, most often a socio-medical emergency is declared: the baby is whisked off into the operating room, and its genitals are fashioned into some semblance of the cosmetic ideal of male or female. Many times, the medical records are destroyed or misplaced — “to spare the patient anguish”, it has been said. Nowadays, things are a little different — both parents are usually admitted into the postnatal decision-making process. That has not always been the case — mothers were often left out in the past, on the basis that knowing the truth might cause them upset. Possible 40 LOTL Magazine • lotl.com upset was justifi cation for never telling the child what had been done, as well. That scarring down there? Surgery for a twist- ed bowel. Those regular injections from puberty onwards? Vitamin shots. The doctors gathered around the hospital bed, studying your private parts with such fascination? Never mind all that. COMPLIANCE AND ANGUISH Most parents did their best to comply with doctor’s demands that they say nothing about it to their child. As the white-coated ones began to lose their lustre, though, parents began to question, to doubt their compliance, and to experience deep misgivings, even anguish. Intersex surgery still continues, despite that, and many medicos continue to promote it with enthusiasm. Others are not so sure. Some neonatal surgeons now admit they have no idea whether any such surgical outcome